8 Feb 2017

Remember when we all read blogs, and then Google Reader died and everyone just had thoughts in their heads all the time, and then we put them on Facebook, and then too many people we’re related to and/or hate friended us, and then we moved to Twitter only to discover the real value of a thought turned out to be if anyone liked it or not?

Things on My Nerves:
1. People who drive poorly and then get mad when they’re honked at. This applies metaphorically to anyone who does something poorly and has someone point this fact out and then loses their mind because of the INJUSTICE of someone saying “you’re wrong.” Bonus indignation points if it’s a dude being told he’s wrong by a lady.

Sidenote: the other day I stopped in the road (probably worthy of a honk) to read a bumper sticker. It said:

Honk if you have to
POOP

2. Librarians who include the MLIS after their names in an email signature. I’m proud of you! But shhh. This isn’t one of those professions.

3. Pretty much everything happening on a national level all the time.

4. You (j/k there’s no one reading this)

I’m teaching a class at a community college this semester, and it is way more fun and interesting than I expected it to be. The last time I taught any class was the fall of 2003. The last time I taught comp I was maybe spring of 2000. So it’s been a minute, and for the most part, blah blah five-paragraph essay, three-part thesis, etc. However, it turns out that I am now much older than my students than I ever was before, and they don’t know what Chiclets are when I make a reference to Chiclets. Come on, it’s a Chiclet! BUT! The great thing is that there are computers and projectors in the classrooms, and so you can first say, “Y’all don’t know what a CHICLET is??!” and then you can Google up a Chiclet and then they say, “Oh yeah, Chiclets!”

We are also creeping up on a year since I broke up with my last boyfriend. He was someone I basically chased after and made out with at parties for over 15 years before convincing him to date me for almost three years. But then two things happened: we had some differences, as humans do, and we could not talk about them. This proved to be a combination I couldn’t endure. Imagine if you watched Oprah your whole life and were into communication and owning your emotions…and then you said, “Here are my emotions” in a non-screamy way and the other person did not respond? (I do not exaggerate: there was NO SOUND. Not a word nor grunt!) Anyway, he’s a fine person, and super cute, and I hope he finds someone who does not require the type/level/content of communication that I do. (It took me the whole year to be able to write this.)

George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo comes out next Tuesday, and I highly recommend it. Buy it for your Valentine if you still have one also I don’t have one because I needed to be able to talk about my feelings sometimes! (I swear I’m over it.)

If you are the podcast type, may I recommend Crybabies? It sounds like a hard sell, but it’s people discussing the things that make them cry — not things like “dead puppies” but things like “the last scene of the last episode of the Wonder Years” or any Adele song. Because a lot of the guests are artsy people, expect a lot of Sondheim references. It is an absolutely fascinating experience to hear someone talk about their crying cues, as you get to hear the backstory and their family history and I LOVE IT. It also makes you think of your own crying cues, and while I haven’t really taken the deep dive on this, this scene from the musical Carousel is definitely one of them.

Ok, it’s a weird seven-minute ballet scene, but I am always moved by the pause and swell of the music (not to mention that insane dancing!) around the three-minute mark. That thing he does around Louise? You should try that at home sometime and then call me to tell me how big the bruise on your butt is after you fall down. (I speak from experience.)

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3 Responses to “Honk!”

Ha! Google Readers is dead, but long live Feedly. I haven’t been over here in a long time. Feels very time warpy 🙂 I wonder if the letters after librarian names etiquette has to do with public vs academic because for sure every librarian in my world uses letters after their name under all circumstances. But I could see it being fussy in the public library world. Interesting.